This excerpt originally appeared in Bloomberg BNA on July 16, 2012.

In “Overriding Consumer Preferences With Energy Regulations,” published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Brookings Senior Fellow Ted Gayer and Vanderbilt University Professor W. Kip Viscusi review some of the government’s recent energy-efficiency standards for vehicles and appliances, finding that the regulations have only a minor effect on greenhouse gas emissions.